With 80,000 deaths from flu during last year's flu season, a doctor explains why you should act now. This year, 1.768 million influenza vaccines made for the southern hemisphere were supplied to New Zealand, 400,000 more than were used in 2019. New Zealand’s Covid-19 rates are among the lowest in the world, but … Mortality rate for influenza and pneumonia in New Zealand Main cause, 1967–2015, age standardised rate of death per 100,000 population. Excluding the swine flu pandemic of 2009, the worst flu outbreak on record occurred in 2015, during which 710,000 U.S. citizens were hospitalized and 56,000 U.S. citizens died. 2,900 more people than expected died during the epidemic period. FLU VACCINE About half of the people who were eligible to receive a flu vaccination were vaccinated against flu. Seasonal flu kills 291,000 to 646,000 people worldwide each year, according to a new estimate that's higher than the previous one of 250,000 to 500,000 deaths a year. The 2018 flu vaccine was moderate effective against the flu strain that most circulated this winter. Cars queue for a Covid-19 test in Auckland, New Zealand, on 14 September. Here’s a less biased, but less catchy, comparison: 2020’s attributed COVID-19 deaths were equivalent to having another 2017-2018 flu and pneumonia season boosted by 13 percent. A block of text making comparisons between the number of deaths from flu and the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic has been shared on Facebook.. 2018 NZ Influenza Symposium Thursday, 8 February 2018 ← Back to Events This one day meeting is for those interested in the application of scientific knowledge to influenza and influenza immunisation delivery in New Zealand. The text claims that “a real pandemic would be self-evident” with “bodies piling up on the street”. Hospitalizations and deaths due to the flu virus have skyrocketed this flu season. The Mortality web tool presents mortality and demographic data for selected causes of deaths registered in New Zealand from 1948–2018. These provided protection against: A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus Just how bad is the 2018 flu season? 1 However, influenza vaccine uptake was slightly lower in 2017 than in the previous three years. Overall, 1.2 million doses of influenza vaccine were distributed in New Zealand last year. These extra deaths were associated with the flu epidemic. Information about all deaths by ICD Chapter, ICD Subgroup, ICD three-character codes and demographics is available from 2014–2018 That compared to 1137 deaths from the respiratory illness in 2017, the worst season in almost a decade. 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